Magnificent Monster

In addition to its brilliant color, this powerful Trident maple has almost everything you’d want in a bonsai, including a massive trunk, fluid natural looking nebari, good lines, a well-matched pot and healthy green moss. The artist is German Gomez. Continuing with our Maple theme… Leaving for vacation in two days and still have a million things to do, so to save some time we’ll go back in time. The photos shown here first appeared on Bark way back in 2010. OKATSUNE TOOL SPECIAL ENDS TOMORROW NIGHT 25% OFF LIST PRICES ON ALL OF OUR OKATSUNE JAPANESE BONSAI & GARDEN TOOLS Special … Continue reading Magnificent Monster

More Magnificent Maples

Luis Vallejo calls this Yama momji Japanese maple. Yama is mountain and momiji is Japanese maple (Acer palmatum). So you’ll sometimes hear this variety referred to as Mountain maple, which is the original, naturally occurring, non-cultivar Japanese maples. Because of the differences in the leaves, I’m guessing that this was originally several different trees that were planted very close together, rather than a clump style planting. Yesterday we featured three magnificent maples that belong to Luis Vallejo. Turns out they are just the tip of his maple offering. Here’s a few more for your enjoyment. If you’re inclined, there are still more on Luis’s timeline SPECIAL … Continue reading More Magnificent Maples

Three Magnificent Maples

This multi-hued beauty is from Luis Vallejo’s Museo de Bonsai in Alcobendas Spain (near Madrid). It’s hard to distinguish individual leaves (I need new glasses!) but they look like they might be Trident maple. Today we’ve got three magnificent maples, each with leaves ablaze. Even without their fiery leaves all three would be brilliant bonsai. With them, well… you can see for yourself. They’re from Luis Vallejo’s facebook timeline. If you’ve got a moment, there’s plenty more where these came from. Visit Stone Lantern for the BEST PRICES ON BONSAI WIRE – Here’s a closer look at those suspiciously Trident looking leaves. Good look at the … Continue reading Three Magnificent Maples

When Was the Last Time You Climbed a Bonsai Tree?

It’s not that often you see a full grown man sitting in a bonsai tree (why doesn’t the tree fall over?). The caption and the photo are from BCI magazine. Yesterday we featured a major league rock planting by Simon Baron with Marc Noelanders. Simon is a new talent to us, but most of you know Marc, a respected and accomplished bonsai artist, teacher and author. Marc is also the founder and ongoing force behind the annual Noelanders Trophy Bonsai Exhibition. This post originally appeared here in December, 2015. It features the only photo I know of with a human sitting in a bonsai. SPECIAL … Continue reading When Was the Last Time You Climbed a Bonsai Tree?

The Sky Is the Limit

Here’s Marc Noelanders’ caption for this magnificent rock planting. “We do not only find high buildings in Israel, but also tall rock planting . The sky is the limit . This week Bonsai school in Israel and the rock planting from Sagi we started in December, finally the finish” I found these photos on Marc Noelander’s timeline. They are also on Sagi Baron’s timeline. All the information we have on this project is in Marc’s quote (in the caption above) and in the photos featured here. It would be good to have more photos and some detailed instruction, but beggars can’t… and I’m delighted to … Continue reading The Sky Is the Limit

No Matter Where You Go

This tall, wild looking Sabina juniper was styled by Walter Pall. The photo is from The Art of Bonsai Project. The pot is by Bryan Albright. Major computer meltdown here (fortunately not our website, so you can still order and we can still ship), but rather our bookkeeping system where we keep track of inventory, money etc (wish us luck!). So time for another shortcut while sticking with our Sabina juniper theme. This one is from October 2013. No matter where you go, there’s Walter Pall with some more bonsai from his seemingly endless collection and his tireless offering of valuable instruction, especially on … Continue reading No Matter Where You Go

A Happy Bonsai Accident

The original caption from Milan Karpíšek reads “Sabina of my friend ready for a show.” From this we might assume that the tree belongs to a friend and was styled by Milan, but we know about assumptions. The three trees shown here are from Milan Karpíšek’s fb photos (Milan is from the Czech Republic). Like many of the bonsai featured here, these were discovered by accident (aka stumbled upon). A very happy accident indeed. After yesterday’s post featuring two Savin junipers (Juniperus sabina) by Gaicomo Pappalardo, I went back to see others we’ve featured over the years and was surprised by just how … Continue reading A Happy Bonsai Accident

Extreme Bonsai

Perfect! The tree is a Savin juniper (Juniperus sabina) and you already know the painting. Before I realized that Gaicomo Pappalardo’s bonsai nursery is called Extreme Bonsai, I was taken with how unusual many of his trees are. Now it all make sense. Today we’ve got three of Gaicomo’s Junipers that caught my eye. If you’d like to see more, you might want to visit Extreme Bonsai’s website or facebook timeline. Or in person if you’re ever in A Coruña, Spain. 30% OFF BONSAI FERTILIZER SPECIAL ENDS TONIGHT Tuesday, May 15th at 11:59pm EDT – Another wild and wonderful full cascade Juniperus sabina … Continue reading Extreme Bonsai

Before & After Bonsai – Rediscovering a Juniper’s Natural Beauty

Here’s Tyler Sherrod’s caption for a job well done…. “Just wired up this juniper for Joe Noga. He has owned this tree for about 30 years. It was grafted with kishu foilage by Mr. Mas Ishii of California. Another cool piece of history of bonsai in America.” Monday morning and we’re already behind, so we’ll let the photos do the talking…. except to say that Tyler Sherrod is one of several Americans (and other Westerners) who has gone through the rigors of a Bonsai apprenticeship in Japan and has brought back his impressive knowledge and skills. Here’s you link to Tyler on fb. 30% off Bonsai … Continue reading Before & After Bonsai – Rediscovering a Juniper’s Natural Beauty

When to Let a Tree Run Off Leash by Michael Hagedorn

This luminous Japanese maple in full fall color is from Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai Portfolio. I don’t know for sure when, or for how long Michael lets this one off the leash, but after reading the article below, I have some idea. Here’s an important topic that we seldom hear about. So even though we just ran this post back in September, I think it’s worth another go. Once again we’re paying homage to the wisdom of Michael Hagedorn, our favorite source for the nitty-gritty of growing bonsai. This time it’s about managing, and especially not managing, the growth of our trees. Our … Continue reading When to Let a Tree Run Off Leash by Michael Hagedorn